I haven’t had many opportunities to take the car out. Every time the roads dried out, a cold night came along and copious amounts of salt were applied to the roads. I’ve spoken to a number of modern car owners who use their cars less during the cold weather, or don’t drive them at all. Equally, I have spoken to some classic owners who happily use their cars throughout the winter months, despite the salty roads.
My antidote was to run the engine and operate the electrical switches. My process for starting the engine was to crank it without cancelling the immobiliser. The immobiliser lets us do this, but I’d check with your maintainer if you want to do this without damaging components such as the ECU.
After cranking the engine for a few seconds, the oil light went out and my attention moved to the oil pressure gauge. Within a few seconds, the needle shot up to 2-3 bar. With the engine primed with oil, I stopped cranking, disabled the immobiliser, and fired up the engine. We have doors at both ends of the garage allowing the exhaust fumes to escape. While varying the revs a little, I was also operating windows and other electrical items. It’s good for the contacts, motors and mechanisms to be used occasionally. With the vacuum returned to the brake servo and the engine running, I pushed the brake pedal a few times. I also used the clutch to engage first and reverse to move backwards and forwards a little, keeping these parts mobile. After a few minutes, the steam had cleared from the exhaust, and 10 minutes later the oil had started to warm. I felt I had run the engine for long enough and switched off.
Continuing the usage theme, we usually reach our insurance limit of 5000 miles per year (sometimes exceeding it with our insurer’s permission). Some cherished cars, being used less and less, may need a different maintenance approach that is focused differently to regularly used cars. To me, the older cars are from an 'analogue' era when vehicles responded to love and attention bestowed on them by mechanics and home enthusiasts - not like today's modern vehicles where a lot of the maintenanceis just a matter of plugging into the diagnostic port and changing whatever the computer says. Sadly, the skills covering the older era are dying out as the 'old boys' retire, leaving something of a vacuum. Nevertheless, because so many classic Porsche survive, we are lucky that independents, plus Porsche Cars GB and Porsche AG in Germany actively promote owning/maintaining classics, even providing spares for us. We have a new local Porsche Centre Principal with an interest in the older cars, so keep an eye out for further news for owners within driving distance of Hatfield. Hopefully, your own local Centre will also be promoting the older cars and providing the support they need.
Register statistics - member car colour
From the total number of cars on the list, 81 are black, 145 blue, 126 white, 198 red, 42 silver and 13 are green. There are 145 entries where the colour isn’t recorded. The above details include data from my historic records, as some cars have changed hands and don't currently provide confirmation of the colour, VIN, and other important data for that matter. If you can help update the records, please visit porscheclubgb.com and click ‘My Profile’, ‘My Porsches’. Ensure you click ‘Update’ at the bottom of the page after making any changes. If you encounter any problems, email me at 911carrera32@porscheclubgb.com or contact the Clubhouse. Please note that only the Clubhouse and Register Secretary can view your vehicle information.
Ultra Low Emission Zone
Don't forget, the new Ultra Low Emission Zone comes into effect in London on 8 April. If you visit London in your 3.2, be aware it applies 24/7, unlike the Congestion Zone. If you have no intention of visiting the capital, do remember the same restriction could be coming to a city near you in the not too distant future!
For more information click here.